{"id":128272,"date":"2025-04-30T09:15:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-30T09:15:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128272"},"modified":"2025-04-30T09:15:57","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T09:15:57","slug":"circle-taps-onafriq-to-cut-africas-cross-border-payment-costs-with-usdc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/?p=128272","title":{"rendered":"Circle taps Onafriq to cut Africa\u2019s cross-border payment costs with USDC"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsStablecoin issuer Circle has partnered with Onafriq, Africa\u2019s largest payments gateway, to reduce the high cost of cross-border payments across the continent using USDC.<br \/>\nAccording to a press release shared with Cointelegraph, Circle aims to pilot USDC (USDC) settlements within Onafriq\u2019s vast network, which connects over 500 wallets and 200 million bank accounts in more than 40 countries.<br \/>\n\u201cBy integrating USDC, we aim to simplify financial transactions for institutions and individuals, reduce costs and strengthen trust,\u201d Onafriq founder and CEO Dare Okoudjou said.<br \/>\nHe added that the integration of USDC will simplify transactions and boost trust in digital financial services.<br \/>\nCurrently, over 80% of intra-African transactions are routed through correspondent banks outside the continent and settled in foreign currencies like the US dollar or euro. This results in approximately $5 billion in fees annually.<br \/>\nRelated:\u00a0Circle files for Initial Public Offering planned for April<br \/>\nAfrica has huge potential for stablecoins<br \/>\nMiriam Kiwan, the vice president at Circle responsible for the Middle East and Africa, said Africa holds tremendous potential for digital asset innovation, particularly in the adoption of stablecoins for cross-border payments.<br \/>\n\u201cTogether, we aim to transform how money moves across borders, offering secure and transparent digital payment rails that enhance economic empowerment and connectivity,\u201d Kiwan said.<br \/>\nRising stablecoin usage across the globe. Source: Stablecoins: The Emerging Market Story 2024By October 2024, stablecoin transactions accounted for approximately 43% of the Sub-Saharan African region\u2019s total transaction volume, according to Chainalysis.<br \/>\nAt the time, Eric Jardine, cybercrimes research lead at Chainalysis, associated the rise in stablecoin transaction volume in the region with currency devaluation.<br \/>\nThe Nigerian naira has been the worst-performing African currency, depreciating by over 100% in 2024.<br \/>\nRelated:\u00a0Circle executive denies claims of seeking US banking license<br \/>\nCircle pushes for global expansion<br \/>\nThe collaboration also comes amid Circle\u2019s global strategy of expanding USDC adoption.<br \/>\nOn April 21, 2025, Circle launched the Circle Payments Network (CPN), a consortium of financial institutions aiming to streamline global fund movement and settlement using stablecoins.<br \/>\nThe network already includes over 20 partners, such as World Remit, Yellow Card, and Fireblocks, with advisory support from major banks like Standard Chartered and Deutsche Bank.<br \/>\nThe initiative is designed to address inefficiencies in traditional cross-border payments. CPN will support various use cases, including remittances, payroll, treasury and invoice payments.<br \/>\nOn April 29, the firm also received in-principle approval from the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of the Abu Dhabi Global Market.<br \/>\nThe approval allows Circle to operate as a regulated money services provider in the United Arab Emirates.<br \/>\nMagazine:\u00a0TV hit Peaky Blinders to launch crypto game, FIFA Rivals on Polkadot: Web3 Gamer<a href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/circle-onafriq-partner-to-cut-africa-payment-costs-with-usdc?utm_source=rss_feed&amp;utm_medium=rss&amp;utm_campaign=rss_partner_inbound\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"feedzy-rss-link-icon\" rel=\"noopener\">Read More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Source: Cointelegraph.com NewsStablecoin issuer Circle has partnered with Onafriq, Africa\u2019s largest payments gateway, to reduce the high cost of cross-border payments across the continent using USDC. According to a press&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128272"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=128272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128272\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=128272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=128272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/cryptospotters.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=128272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}